# Hello Post This article comes from a recent self-reflection on the things I wish I had started doing earlier in my career and the things I wish I had done differently. What I am sharing here may be useful to any junior to mid-level developer who wishes to improve and progress toward the title of senior and beyond. **Table of Contents** · My Career Evolution · Things I Wish I Had Started Doing Earlier: ∘ [Write a Work Log](https://betterprogramming.pub/advices-from-a-software-engineer-with-8-years-of-experience-8df5111d4d55#ca42) ∘ [Leave the Comfort Zone](https://betterprogramming.pub/advices-from-a-software-engineer-with-8-years-of-experience-8df5111d4d55#faae) ∘ [Be Curious About Other Teams and Projects](https://betterprogramming.pub/advices-from-a-software-engineer-with-8-years-of-experience-8df5111d4d55#faae) ∘ [Join the On-call Team](https://betterprogramming.pub/advices-from-a-software-engineer-with-8-years-of-experience-8df5111d4d55#e17e) ∘ [Change Teams](https://betterprogramming.pub/advices-from-a-software-engineer-with-8-years-of-experience-8df5111d4d55#582f) ∘ [Write Blog Posts](https://betterprogramming.pub/advices-from-a-software-engineer-with-8-years-of-experience-8df5111d4d55#1cc4) · Things I Wish I Had Done Differently: ∘ [Be Careful When Introducing New Things to the Team](https://betterprogramming.pub/advices-from-a-software-engineer-with-8-years-of-experience-8df5111d4d55#0fca) ∘ [Do Not Let Your Emotions Take Over in Front of the Team](https://betterprogramming.pub/advices-from-a-software-engineer-with-8-years-of-experience-8df5111d4d55#19f9) ∘ [Dip a Foot Into the Hiring Market](https://betterprogramming.pub/advices-from-a-software-engineer-with-8-years-of-experience-8df5111d4d55#19f9) · [End Thoughts](https://betterprogramming.pub/advices-from-a-software-engineer-with-8-years-of-experience-8df5111d4d55#b38a) # My Career Evolution Before diving into the main subject, here is my career evolution: 1. I interned for three months at a startup (which quickly became a scale-up) company. 2. After that, I did a full year of work-study, spending three months at school and nine months at work. 3. Then, I got hired as a full-time software engineer and kept this title for three and a half years. 4. Quickly after the introduction of the tech career ladder, I got promoted to senior software engineer. I kept this title for three years until I left the company, at which point the tech teams accounted for approximately 200 people. 5. I joined as a software engineer 2 at a company with thousands of tech employees. Despite the title downgrade at the second company (see [Big Tech Hiring is Conservative — But Why?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQVFYVMhPlw)), I have been trying to keep the same responsibilities (and more) as before.
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